The present invention relates to the field of waste handling containers and specifically to an intermodal container having a very large lid and a combination sliding and pivoting mechanism to facilitate opening and closing the lid, and having a side-hinge-mounted door at one end of the container, the hinge and latching mechanism for the door being retractable to pull the door into a sealing relationship with the container whereby all components of the container are within the confines of corner blocks of the container, and having a header at the doored-end of the container that provides the guiding elements for the sliding and pivoting action of the lid and which operates to swing away from the opening along the inside of the container.
Hazardous waste materials are frequently transported to disposal facilities in very large waste handling containers. A typical such container might measure 8xe2x80x2xc3x9718xe2x80x2xc3x975xe2x80x2 with an opening in the top thereof measuring 7xe2x80x2xc3x9714xe2x80x2. To safely close off this large opening, a one-piece lid must cover the entire opening and form a tight sea; against the container body to prevent the hazardous materials from escaping during transport.
One example of such a lid is shown is U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,562 wherein the lid has a downwardly extending, longitudinal flange which rides along rollers positioned on top of the container. A complicated screw-type mechanism is used to raise the lid from a sealed position, and then the lid is slid laterally along the rollers roughly half its width until a pair of spring-biased hooks catch corresponding hinge bars at the edge of the top of the container. The lid is thus hingedly connected to the top of the container and is pivoted to the side and out of the way of the opening. In addition to the significant risk of failure of the screw mechanism to unseal and raise the lid and the difficulty of servicing the screw mechanism, the lid can easily be de-railed from its tracks. Moreover, although fairly heavy, this lid has proven to be highly susceptible to the forces of a good wind gust which has picked the lid up, off and away from the container. It has also been found that the special spring-biased hooks do not reliably engage with the hinge members. This can and has left the lid skewed, de-railed, and jammed. Another example of this general type of sliding lid configuration is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,902. Here, the lid of a large waste container is supported for gliding horizontal movement atop rollers mounted to the top of the container.
These large waste containers are often transported by rail where maximum container height limits are set by the applicable federal regulation. To maximize the container volume, while staying within the container height limitations, it is desired that the mechanism for supporting the container lid for sliding and pivoting movement project above the container as little as possible.
Oftentimes, the above described containers are desired to be intermodal. That is, it is desired that they be capable of being transported by a number of different vehicles, such as, for example, a truck, a train or a ship. In multiple container transport such as on a ship, it is desired to stack the containers side by side, end to end, or on top of each other while still maximizing the amount of internal container space. A typical intermodal container has a set of corner blocks at each of the eight corners of the container, the corner blocks of one container abutting the corner blocks of the adjacent stacked container. All container components, including container walls, doors and lids, must not extend beyond the plane or boundaries defined by the eight corner blocks. It is, therefore, desired to provide an intermodal container with a side-hinged, end-opening door that maximizes the internal container room and yet satisfies intermodal container transport specifications.
It is further often desired to have containers as described above for transporting items that are easily manipulated by a forklift or similar vehicle. In such a case, where there is a side-hinged, end-opening door and a top-mounted, sliding lid, the clearance at the end opening at the top is simply too low to permit a forklift to drive into the container.
What is desired is a container that has a side-hinged, end-opening door, a large top-mounted, sliding lid, a configuration that permits for intermodal transport, and a configuration which permits driving of a forklift directly into the container.
Generally speaking, a large waste handling, intermodal container with a large opening in its top has a low profile lid which can be slid and pivoted to either side of the container by a single person with little difficulty, has a rear dump door hingedly mounted at the rear, along one side by a retractable hinge assembly that pulls the door tightly against the container to seal shut the rear opening, and has a swing away header to open up the rear opening for the ingress and egress of loading vehicles.
A waste handling, intermodal container includes a container body having left and right sides, a rear, a top, an upwardly facing top opening in the top, and a rear opening in the rear; a lid sized to cover said top opening and having a closed and clamped position tightly covering and sealing the top opening and an open position including said lid being vertically positioned along one side of the container body; a lid control and support mechanism connected with the lid and the container to support the lid and to permit the lid to be slid and pivoted between the closed and clamped position and the open position; a rear door hingedly connected along one side of the container to close off the rear opening; and, a retractable hinge assembly operable to retract the door tightly against the rear of the container body to seal the rear opening and to extend the door rearwardly to enable the door to be pivotally opened at the hinge assembly to a position alongside one side of the container body.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved waste handling container.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a waste handling, intermodal container with a side-hinged, end mounted dump door.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a waste handling, intermodal container with a side-hinged, end mounted dump door where the container is openable at its rear to enable ingress and egress of loading vehicles.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment.